Ryan Holman and Delbarton held off a challenge from Pascack Valley in a 4-1 win on Tuesday afternoon.

MORRISTOWN – They are not in the same group classification, they play in different counties and have zero common opponents, but when it comes to the 2025 season, Pascack Valley and Delbarton are in a way mirror images of one another. Both teams advanced to a state final last year, they both return a good core of players from that team, and both are finding their way and hoping for a second chance at winning it all. On Tuesday, the two teams crossed paths looking to add a resume-building win to their record.

An early miscue handed Delbarton two runs. Sophomore right-hander Finnian O’Loughlin made it stand up by going five scoreless innings as Delbarton bounced back from a loss on Saturday with a 4-1 win over Pascack Valley in Brian E. Fleury Field in Morristown.

The Green Wave got runners on with a leadoff walk in the bottom half of the first inning by Matt Tafuri followed by a single from Duke commit Sal Garcia. Then on a squibber between the pitcher’s mound and first, the ball was fielded cleanly. On the flip to first, nobody was at the bag which allowed Tafuri to come around and score. O’Loughlin helped his own cause by knocking in Garcia to make it 2-0.

“We blinked first. When you play the better teams in the state, you can’t blink first,” said Pascack Valley head coach Will Lynch. “The only reason to play a team like Delbarton is to think you can come here and win. We had our opportunities and shot ourselves in the foot. The lesson to be learned is you can’t do that against a team like this. We gave away a couple of extra outs that cost us and they made the routine plays.”

Pasack Valley starter JT Deriso allowed just one earned run.

O’Loughlin struggled with his control in the first two innings, but he settled into a rhythm. The Panthers’ best chance to get to him came in the fifth inning when they had two runners on. O’Loughlin got a huge strikeout to end the threat and keep the Panthers off the scoreboard.

“I think in the first inning and into the second I was throwing, I wasn’t pitching,” said O’Loughlin. “It’s great to be part of a team that gave me some runs early. Trying to build up more and more throughout the season and I felt more comfortable with my breaker as the game went on. You can only control what you can control. We’re going to keep competing and I hope this game is a real table-turner for us to get us back in the right direction.”

The Green Wave tacked on two more runs in the fifth. Pascack Valley pulled one back in the top of the sixth on one swing of the bat. Sam Stalb crushed a leadoff HR off Delbarton reliever Wes Gabriel in the top of the sixth to cut the lead to 4-1. Then in the 7th, the Panthers got two runners on and brought the dangerous Trevor Kirkby to the plate with the tying run. Kirkby hit the ball hard, but it was right at Garcia at short, who flipped to second baseman Ryan Holman for the game-ending fielder’s choice.

Duke commit Sal Garcia was in the middle of Delbarton's first inning rally.

“I think this was a good test that beneficial for both teams,” said Delbarton head coach Bruce Shatel.” It was important for (O’Loughlin) to navigate through five innings against a good lineup. We had a great year last year and won a bunch of games. I think playing a tough schedule is good for our kids. The hope is that playing so many tough teams will pay dividends when it counts.”

O’Loughlin picked up the win for Delbarton (6-2), going five scoreless innings. He gave up three hits, with two walks, and five K’s along with driving in two runs.

JT Deriso took the hard-luck loss for Pascack Valley (6-2). Only one of the four runs against him were earned. The schedule is a tough one over the next nine days. The Panthers will face Bergen Catholic tomorrow before dates with DePaul, a home-and-home with undefeated Northern Valley/Old Tappan, before closing out the rough stretch with Ridgewood. However, if the Panthers are to have a championship season, this is the road they must take in order to be seasoned for county and state tournament runs.

“We’re feeling down now, but we’re going to have to figure this out,” added Lynch. “It’s about putting together a total team effort. JT gave up just five hits and just one earned run against a very good lineup. We’ve got to come out of that game with a win. We’re going to have to dig deep and if we keep working hard, we’ll get there.”

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